AfterMath
by tvfan69
Summary: A one shot taking place after Marooned, and how Len copes with the actions of both him and his partner with a little help.
Thursday March 3rd, 2016.

That is the current date and it is also the day that Mick Rory died.

Leonard made the call. He asked Rip to bring them back to the present so on the off chance anyone ever found his partner's body they could at least get the tombstone right. They didn't do it near Central City, rather on the outskirts of a forest in New Jersey. There was a city nearby that had a reputation for it's constant murder stories and so should Mick's body ever be discovered it probably wouldn't raise any questions, no more than usual that is. The entire team waited in the bridge, Len said he would handle it.

"We shouldn't have let him-"

"He said he'd handle it," Sara cut Kendra off.

"Mick was his partner," She tried to argue but Sara met her eyes with a very serious gaze.

"Exactly," she said, "he was his partner, his responsibility; for his own sake he has to handle this." She explained but neither Kendra or the others looked convinced.

"Mick wasn't-" Kendra tried to argue but she was interrupted again, this time by the doors to the bridge swishing open.

Len came through them, eyes red and face pale, he didn't make much eye contact with anyone as he walked over and placed his cold gun onto the table.

"It's done," he said, turning around and exiting the room. Everyone watched him go with heartbroken expressions.

"I think we could all do with a bit of downtime before we move on," Rip finally said and so with a mix of nods and thank you's everyone slowly filed out of the room one by one, and when she left Sara took the cold gun with her.

* * *

"I thought he said he likes to keep that thing on him?" Jax's voice came from behind Sara as she gently placed Leonard's cold gun on its designated rack in the armory.

"He's not going to want to touch it for awhile," she replied as she turned around, leaning against the steel countertop. "Even if he decides he does, he definitely doesn't want it right now." She continued and Jax moved from his spot in the doorway, walking further into the room. He came to a stop in front of her, looking flustered and sad, like there was something he wasn't saying. "You ok kid?" She asked but he didn't answer her at first, instead it was another minute before his anger came spilling out.

"Man you should've heard what Rip said to him while we were on the other ship," He began, anger and frustration evident in his voice.

"What Rip said to Mick?" Sara asked, just for clarification, Jax nodded.

"Look none of us ever thought Mick was a genius, but when Rip started complaining that violence is his answer to everything and Mick pointed out that was why he recruited him in the first place Rip said that the only reason he recruited Mick was because him and Snart were a package deal." He confessed and Sara felt her eyes grow just a little wider. "He only needed Snart, and then he kept talking. Saying that he never wanted to recruit a guy with the IQ of a piece of meat." Now Sara was clenching her jaw and balling her fists, and noticing that Jax's fists were doing the same thing. "The thing is," Jax continued, his fists beginning to relax. "I've never had more respect for Mick then I did right before he betrayed us. I got in between him and Hunter but he could've easily pushed past me. He could've punched Hunter right in the face, and if it was me being talked to like that I know I would've. But Mick didn't, he cut a deal and got out and after that I don't blame him." He said and now he almost looked like he was about to cry. "Man, we all know that Rip lies but-"

"No," Sara cut him off in a low but calm voice. "He didn't have any right to say that. I don't care if Mick never was essential to the mission, he had no right to treat him that way." She said and Jax looked like he was just choking up more and more with each passing second until finally he threw his arms around Sara. He and Mick were never great friends, but that being said the arsonist still didn't deserve to die. Sara held him and rubbed her hand soothingly along his back until he let go, wiping his eyes in the process.

"Sorry," he apologized, knowing that Sara isn't the most emotional person.

"It's cool," She assured him with a smile and a hand on his arm, "I'm going to bed," she said, walking past him and out of the armory, with no real intentions of going to her room.

* * *

"Len?" Sara's soft voice followed the knock on his door but she received no response. "Len, it's me." She tried but again he didn't respond to her. "I know you're in there Len, open the door." She demanded in her same pleading tone but again she received no reply and so she let out a frustrated growl. "Gideon?" She called to the AI,

"Yes Ms. Lance?" The feminine voice replied; the fact that it's voice wasn't undercut by pain like the rest of the crew almost being enough to turn Sara's own anger onto it.

"Is Snart in his room?" She asked instead, knowing that Gideon can't feel and so it wouldn't be fair to grow angry because of it.

"Yes he is; should I inform him that you are looking for him?" The AI responded and again, despite having no real reason for it, Sara growled in frustration.

"Can you just ask him to unlock the door?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The door is not locked Ms. Lance," The automated voice informed her and Sara arched a brow, it hadn't occurred to her that Snart wouldn't lock his door.

Tentatively she reached out and pressed her finger against the button that controlled the door, and it slid open. Inside she found Snart sitting on his bed, knees drawn to his chest and back against the wall. With Mick's top bunk resting above his head and with the beds being more like pods that were built into the wall he looked more liked he was in a cave then on a bed. That plus the fact that he wasn't even trying to hide the tears streaming down his face only added to the heartbreak the scene caused Sara. Without a word she stepped inside the room and pressed the door closed behind her. Once it was shut she crossed over to the bed and crawled next to Len, making sure not to hit her head on the low ceiling of the bunk. Still remaining silent she placed an arm around him and allowed him to rest his head on her shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, him crying while she said nothing. She eventually leaned her head against his and as he cried she couldn't help but think of how just a few hours ago the roles had been reversed.

* * *

 _Up until now Sara had thought that she wouldn't be afraid to die again. Not that dying had been pleasant, it was far from it, but she had still done it. She thought that meant that should it happen again she'd have no fear but she was wrong. Sitting here with Snart, shaking like a leaf about to be blown off its tree, she realized that she was very afraid of dying here. She's so far away from home. How long would it be until Laurel or her parents even found out? A week? A month? Would the team even tell them? Rip isn't exactly one to derail from the course of action but surely he would do so long enough to inform her family that she'd passed, right?_

 _She shook her head, from more than cold; she didn't want to think about that._

 _"Here," Snart said as he stripped off his jacket and tried to hold it out to her._

 _"N-no," she refused, "You-you ne-ne-need it." She insisted but he still held it out to her._

 _"I may have never been the best- the best science student. But I remember some-something about muscle mass and temperature. The more mass a person has, the more natural heat they have. No offence a-assassin but I know I have more than you." He said,_

 _"I was never great at science ei-either but I think that works better with fat," Sara argued although she wasn't really sure._

 _"Either way, if it comes close to the wire you're probably going to end up going first. At least try to even the odds." He said and after a second of thought she realized that he was right; much as she hates to admit it if Kendra and Ray don't pull them out until the last possible second Len's body is the one with a better chance at lasting that long._

 _"Thanks," she said as she slipped into the jacket, which still had a twinge of warmth left in it from whatever body heat Len had left._

 _They had already been huddled together but not long after he gave her his jacket and they had their little conversation about dying she found herself giving into the urge to get closer to him and wrapped her arms around his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. He responded to this by taking his arm away from her, despite her python like grip, and placed it around her shoulders in order to pull her closer. He laid his head against hers and moved his hand along her forearm, trying to create some friction for heat._

 _"You know, not that I like you either," He began, recalling her earlier statement about how she'd rather die with him than die alone. "But if I had to die with anyone on this ship, I'd pick you or Mick." He said and Sara had to swallow in order to unfreeze her throat before answering._

 _"If I had to die with anyone on this ship, I'd pick you. But if I had to be locked in here with anyone, I'd pick Mick." She said and the look Len gave her was nothing short of offended. "He has a flamethrower," she justified and Len had to give her that one._

 _"Agreed; Mick's the best person to be locked in here with, or at least his gun is." He said and Sara gave a small chuckle as she pressed her head further into his shoulder._

 _"Here," he said, reaching over with his other arm and wrapping it around her waist so that he could pull her into his lap._

 _"Th-thanks," she said as she settled against him, both of his arms wrapping tightly around her._

 _"Don't thank me yet," he warned, they stayed like that until the door finally swished open when they were both teetering on the edge of unconsciousness._

* * *

"You know they say that the first kill is the hardest but…" Len's voice brought Sara back to the present as he shook his head and sat up straight, prompting her to take back her arm. He had stopped crying and his voice was steady.

"Yeah well the second kill isn't usually your partner," Sara told him and he just stared down at his lap.

"I wasn't going to kill him," He confessed, "I wanted to just let him go but…" he shook his head again, knowing that wouldn't have been an option. "He would've found his way back to Central City, and once he finished there with Lisa, Stein's wife, and probably Jax's mom, he'd head to Star city and take care of your sister and father. I know I was the brains of our partnership but Mick knows how to evade the cops, they wouldn't catch him until he was done." He said, finally looking at her as he finished.

"I'm sorry," that was all she was able to say, as comforting people isn't exactly her strong suit, but she did reach out and grab his hand which seemed to help as he began playing with her fingers while the gears turned in his head.

"You ever read _Of Mice and Men_?" He asked her and she couldn't help but give him half a smile.

"Yeah, sophomore year of high school." She answered and he sighed, still absent-mindedly distracting himself with her fingers.

"Freshman year, or what would've been freshman year if I wasn't locked up in Juvie." He mused, "They tried to keep you caught up with school by giving you work but no one ever did it. Thing is there wasn't much else to do except stare at your cell wall so every time they gave me a book I read it, never gave them the report they asked for but I read the book. Throughout that whole book I thought Lennie was just dragging George down and when George killed him in the end it didn't really surprise me, guess I should've seen this day coming." He said with a sigh as Sara thought back and tried to remember the plot of the book that she hadn't picked up in well over ten years.

"You know it's funny," She said, "After we finished that book my teacher asked for a show of hands of who thought George made the right choice, and I raised my hand. Then she asked one of the kids who didn't raise his hand why he thought it was the wrong choice and he said because killing is wrong. That was the first time I ever sided with the idea of killing, and I promised myself that I would never do that again." She said and for the first time Len gave a smirk.

"Well you grew up to be an assassin so I don't know how well that worked out," He said and she laughed.

"I guess it's pretty much shot," she agreed while laying her head onto his shoulder.

"So you telling me this, does that mean you think I made the wrong decision?" He asked and Sara looked up at him.

"No," she said, "I was about to say that I broke that promise today, I think you made the right choice." She told him, however before he could say anything his eyes fell onto the bandages of her shoulder peeking out from under her shirt.

His grip on her hand tightened as he clenched his jaw in anger, Mick had done that to her.

* * *

 _"What are you gonna do Snart?" His supposed partner asked of him and in response he iced his hand. This was enough to not only keep Mick from getting up but also to distract him long enough for Len to march over there and ram his boot into the side of his head, knocking the hothead unconscious._

 _He turned around where he found Sara standing against a massive piece of the ship's engine, clutching her shoulder. He had seen the flames in the room just as they dissipated, and now he wished he had kicked Mick harder after realizing that he had really shot at Sara. He approached her, and she knew that he didn't want to believe the truth._

 _"It's nothing, just grazed me." She tried to tell him but he reached out and gently pulled her hand away. The burn was only second degree, thank god, but he could see that some nasty blisters were already forming and had Mick fired just a notch more powerful or if Sara had jumped away a second or two later it easily could've become third degree. The flame had mostly hit the top of her bicep but there were a few faint burns on her shoulder that were starting to show up. The sleeve of her shirt was singed and for the most part destroyed around the burn but that was the least of her worries._

 _"You should go get that wrapped up, before it gets infected." Len finally said and she obeyed him without a word, walking off for the med bay and leaving him to deal with the unconscious Mick._

* * *

"He didn't want to hurt me," Sara informed Len when she felt his hand clench and she looked up to notice where his eyes had fallen. "He said that if I turned the other way he wouldn't hurt me," she said and although Len relaxed his hand his face was still just as angry. "Even when I told him I had to stand against him he still said he would only kill me a little bit," she said,

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" Len demanded, Sara no longer looking up at him but rather staring vacantly ahead at the door.

"Maybe," she shrugged, "Probably not," she decided before she adjusted herself and sat straight once again.

The two of them were silent after that, neither having anything else to say and really just wanting to move off of the topic of Mick.

"Well I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight, I've been listening to Mick snore every night since we got on this ship. It'll be strange not having to kick his mattress to shut him up," Leonard mused and Sara let out a laugh.

"I'd offer to let you stay in my room but I don't think two people on the top bunk is going to work as well as it did in college," She said and Len just raised a questioning eyebrow at her before shaking his head and deciding that he didn't want to know. It was then that he actually processed the fact that he was still holding Sara's hand, their fingers intertwined and he began to wonder exactly how long they had been sitting like this. Regardless he didn't want to ruin it so he pretended not to have just noticed.

"No, probably not." He agreed with her, "Besides I don't think your roommate would be to happy. Kendra doesn't seem like the type that would to be able to adjust well to two people sleeping above her." He said and Sara chuckled,

"She'd probably lay there nervous about every little creak in the mattress," She said and Len smirked in agreement, however to be fair had Mick ever brought a girl up to his bunk and the mattress started creaking, even if they weren't doing anything, he probably would've left the room. "I could stay in here if you want," she offered and Len wouldn't admit it but it was almost as if she was reading his mind. "You know if you don't want to be alone," she continued, Len smirked as he looked down at their hands before looking back at her.

"Tell anyone about this-"

"If anyone finds out I'll tell them I had a nightmare about when we were locked in the control room and was afraid of being alone." She interrupted and as touched as he was to hear she would jeopardize her reputation to save his there was one flaw in her plan.

"You share a room," he pointed out.

"But you're the only one who would understand that fear," she argued and he couldn't argue that one.

She took his smile as yes and so with a small smile of her own she finally reclaimed her hand and got up from the bed.

"Just let me put some pajamas on," she said, as much as she didn't want to leave his room she also didn't want to sleep in her singed shirt.

"Sara," Len's voice called just as she reached the door, she turned back to see him smiling gratefully. "Thank you," he said and she smiled,

"You're welcome," she said.

She returned to the room just a few minutes later, clad in sweatpants and a dark blue long sleeved shirt. She found Len had also changed and was now wearing plaid blue pants and a gray t-shirt that showed off his muscles. He was just crawling into bed and she didn't say anything as she turned off the light and crawled in beside him.

"Thanks for getting the light," he said as he made room for her under the blankets and she settled in and he wrapped an arm around her waist. "And thanks for again for being here," he continued as he took hold of her hand once again.

"Anytime," she replied, interlocking her fingers with his.

With that said Len placed one soft kiss to her lips and she returned it eagerly but just as gently. After he pulled away Sara kept her eyes closed and pressed her face into his shoulder, it didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

* * *

"What happened?" Stein demanded the next morning when Rip walked into the kitchen with a black eye. Presently it was only the two of them in the room but the others would soon be awake.

"I ran into Sara last night just as she was entering her bedroom, she said this is for the brig." Rip replied as he set to work on his morning coffee.

"What on earth is she talking about? Why would she-?" Stein began asking but Rip held up a hand for him to stop.

"I am certain that she'll inform you and the others later, in the meantime I'll tell you that although Sara can sometimes be unnecessarily violent I can assure that I deserve this one."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys i just wanted to let the record show that i personally believe Mick is alive. I don't think Snart killed him but for the purposes of this one shot i had to go with that he did. I hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
